The chaos at the Copa America final on Sunday did not stop at the gates.
Video and photos posted on X show an escalator at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens that was allegedly destroyed by fans, with shattered glass everywhere and the handrails collapsed at the bottom.
Geo Milian, a sports reporter in South Florida, posted photos of the scene, which he described as “barbaric and unacceptable!”
Photos showed an escalator at Hard Rock Stadium destroyed during the Copa America final. X/@GeoMilian
Photos showed an escalator at Hard Rock Stadium destroyed during the Copa America final. X/@GeoMilian
Argentina’s 1-0 win over Colombia was overshadowed by the fan madness that delayed the start of the game, with crowds so large trying to get through the gates with or without tickets that at one point, gates were opened to everyone to avoid stampedes.
Some fans even tried entering the stadium by crawling through vents.
The stadium was overcrowded as a result, and one fan posted on X that their tickets weren’t checked and assigned seating wasn’t being enforced.
A bloody fan is detained by police before the Copa America final on Sunday. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
Massive crowds try to enter Hard Rock Stadium for the Copa America final. Getty Images
Fans tried crawling through vents to enter the Copa America final. @ManagerTactical/X
Video and photos from before the game show fans getting bloodied and some were detained by police.
Manuela Ángel, the wife of Colombia’s Daniel Muñoz, was left bloodied with a cut on the wrist.
“We were standing in line as a family waiting to get in and then the reckless people behind me started to push me,” Ángel told The Athletic. “They thought I was causing chaos, so I was pushed towards the police officers, away from the line. They started yelling at my children. My oldest is 6 years old and my youngest isn’t even 2 yet. I’m here with Daniel’s grandmother, his mother, his aunt and other family members. I suffered the most because I was in front of all of them. I had the tickets.”
In another example of unruliness inside the stadium, several fans in Colombia shirts opened a giant bag of concession popcorn and poured all of it out, creating a large mess.
Keep up with The Post’s coverage of Copa America’s wild final
“We are outraged by the unprecedented events at [Sunday’s] Copa America finals,” Miami-Dade mayor Daniella Levina Cava and chief public safety officer James Reyes said in a joint statement.
“Let’s be clear: This situation should never have taken place and cannot happen again. We will work with stadium leadership to ensure that a full review of tonight’s events takes place immediately to evaluate the full chain of events, in order to put in place needed protocols and policies for all future games.”
Hard Rock Stadium is one of the host venues for the 2026 World Cup.
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Publish date : 2024-07-15 02:28:00
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